OCADO INVESTS £10 MILLION IN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE COMPANY

Ocado Group plc, the leading online grocery platform, has invested £10 million in autonomous vehicle company Oxbotica Ltd, which is based at the Oxford Business Park.

The companies will collaborate on hardware and software for autonomous vehicles.

Ocado wants autonomous vehicles to operate in its customer fulfilment centre, on last-mile deliveries and kerb-to-kitchen robots. The ultimate ambition is to reduce the costs of last-mile delivery and other logistics operations.

Be a generous ape, shop sustainably

An online marketplace for those looking to shop more sustainably has exceeded its funding target of £175,000 through crowdfunder Seedrs.

Generous APE (Animal, People and Environment), based in Wantage, wants to encourage the millions of us not yet buying sustainably to adopt a new way of shopping.

According to founder David Walker-Smith, a former buying director for Selfridges, demand for sustainable fashion has grown three-fold during lockdown with 62 per cent of millennial shoppers wanting to look and shop more sustainably.

He said: “We have launched with 70 curated brands and that number will grow organically as the business evolves.”

The online marketplace hosts brands and products that give back to good causes.

Archangel Lightworks sets up shop in Florida

An Oxfordshire laser communications start-up has established a subsidiary in Florida.

After winning Space Florida’s grand prize at the 2020 Florida Venture Aerospace Innovation and Tech Forum, Archangel Lightworks will open o ces in Orlando.

The company has developed a new generation of space-air laser communication terminals and technologies. Being able to elevate the terminals above the cloud is a key enabler for industry uptake of laser communication because the best place to use laser communications is where the cloud isn’t.

CEO of Archangel Lightworks, Richard Johanson, said: “Establishing Archangel Lightworks USA is a fantastic step for the company and has been the result of hard work by many.

“We have received significant support from our partners in the region and look forward to growing our team and our presence in Florida.”

Funding confirmed for UK’s largest community-owned solar park

Triodos Bank UK has announced new lending to Oxfordshire social enterprise Low Carbon Hub to help construct and operate what will be the UK’s largest communityowned solar park

Ray Valley Solar will be a subsidy-free, community-owned solar park near Arncott, north east of Oxford. The project will have a total installed capacity of 19.2 megawatts and aims to generate enough electricity to power more than 6,000 homes annually through its ground-mounted panels.

Triodos Bank UK has approved a new loan facility, allowing the project to be constructed this year. Further lending will also be made available for its operation, with the park expected to begin generating in autumn 2021.

The project will result in a five-fold increase in the amount of green electricity that Low Carbon Hub is able to generate annually.

Ray Valley Solar is a key trial site for Project Low Energy Oxford, a £40 million crossorganisational project that is conducting real-world trials to understand the role local energy can play in accelerating the transition to a zero-carbon energy system.